Monday, September 14, 2009
News Atlanta Libertarians not very happy about The Eagle raid
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 2:19 PM
The Libertarian Party of Atlanta (!) is calling for Mayor Shirley Franklin to publicly apologize and Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington to resign over the APD's Thursday night raid on popular gay bar The Eagle. The chapter says the APD "acted in a manner that would have been common in a different age" during the controversial bust and should "[use] their officers to protect the citizens of Atlanta, not [raid] a private club containing a group of consenting adults."
From a Libertarian Party press release:
THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF ATLANTA DECRIES THE ACTIONS OF THE ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT RAIDING THE EAGLE.
ATLANTA - The Libertarian Party of Atlanta is deeply disturbed by the actions of the Atlanta Police Department (APD) when they raided popular Atlanta gay bar, The Eagle on September 10th. . In June 2009 according to statistics published by the APD, 331 crimes against persons were committed and there were 3,379 crimes against a property reported. The APD should be using their officers to protect the citizens of Atlanta, not raiding a private club containing a group of consenting adults.
The government has no right to determine what is a permissible activity within a private space between consenting adults. The Atlanta Police acted in a manner that would have been common in a different age. The Libertarian Party of Atlanta believes that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, preference or gender identity, deserve to be treated respectfully by the government and its agents.
It is to this end that we call for a public apology from Mayor Franklin and the resignation of Chief Pennington for this egregious abuse of government power and the rights of individuals.
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
like
dislike
An openly gay male posted in the Rants and Raves of Craiglist that what goes on in the Eagle is worthy of a raid. He stated Thursdays nights in particular activities in the club and outside. His main criticism is that the owners know what goes on and is playing the card of I care about how my customers were treated. Read it.
I've talked to a number of gay male friends, varying ages and bar/no bar preferences, and all had been to the Eagle over the years, all said it was one of the last places to find drugs as far as clubs go (so then why Red Dog?), and pretty much all steered clear of Thursday nights - isn't their cup of tea, so they simply don't go. That all said: When was the last time the Red Dot unit had thirty officers with 60 perps handcuffed and face down on the pavement at the massive open-air drug bazarre of Parkway/Boulevard, about five blocks away? How many hours of undercover work were spent at the Eagle, to net 8 arrests on permit violations, that were not spent on area drug cartels, or even smaller distribution outfits? I know neighbors that had to run their own surveillance in Midtown on obvious, obvious distribution houses, with minimal support from APD. Once they had all the film, then they could get (guilt) some action from APD. The Eagle hasn't had prostitutes/hustlers circling around it 24/7 like the Phoenix, or drug dealers waiving down traffic from the parking lot at 8am like Backstreet. It was/is pretty much a contained unit. Oh, and if the sex at the Eagle is so bad, how come the straight white club on Juniper with its advertised sex party nights on Craigslist is a-otay?
And even if they DID choose to arrest people in this club for drugs or sex that is illegal, it still doesn't excuse the actions of handcuffing people with no probable cause or conducting illegal searches of their persons without consent. Being in a room where illegal activity MIGHT be happening is not probable cause to violate people's Constitutional rights.
Just wondering how many black straight clubs was raided this year? Perhaps the raid is white gay race motivated. New in town... from CA
If there's no money to follow, then follow the motivation. Don't be distracted by surface reasons. This originated quietly. Whoever figures out the origin of the complaints wins the breaking news award for the month.
"Being in a room where illegal activity MIGHT be happening is not probable cause to violate people’s Constitutional rights." I think that the government thinks (both Democrats and Republicans) that the Constitution is just a god damn piece of paper and can not wait to move to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project www.freestateproject.org
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
'Ex-gays' gather outside Atlanta this weekend 1
Meanwhile human rights groups fight the notion that "ex-gay" is a thing
-
CNN cancels Atlanta debate 2
Everybody cry
-
ARC's new map of transportation-tax projects is suitable for framing 3
Voters will decide 1-cent sales tax measure in July
- More »
Author Archives
-
Atlanta, then and now 6
Oh, what a beautiful, walkable city you once were
-
First Slice 1/9/12: Heckuva job, Atlanta Falcons
Dirty Birds end season with spectacular loss
- More »
